TRAFFIC slowed to a crawl in Truro when excessive rainfall on Monday night (October 7) resulted in city-centre flooding.

At 5.55pm, Devon and Cornwall Police reported heavy traffic on the A39 Morlaix Avenue due to the road being “impassable due to flooding” both ways at Trafalgar roundabout, with congestion to Arch Hill. By 7pm, conditions had improved to “just passable”.

The junction with the B3284, St Austell Street, was closed by police and traffic diverted when flood water stretched across the road from Halfords to the Catholic church, leaving one vehicle stranded.

The incident occurred the day after a torrential downpour caused havoc around Trafalgar roundabout and Tregolls Road, with cars forced to carefully navigate overflow by the Shell garage.

Cornwall Council said flooding was exacerbated by debris and leaves covering drains – a problem which has affected Truro’s streets in the past.

A spokesperson for the local authority said: “A short spell of unexpectedly high intensity rain led to surface water flooding at Trafalgar roundabout on Monday evening. The surface water carried debris and leaves to the lowest points of the road, covering some of the highway drains.

“Surface water drainage at this location was also impacted as the heavy rain struck near high tide. Cormac teams quickly attended the scene to clear the debris and leaves covering drains.”

It was reported last year that Cormac was starting the second phase of works to improve Trafalgar roundabout, which included excavations for water storage tanks which are designed to alleviate drainage issues in the area.